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Meta’s AI billions come at human cost as Zuckerberg refuses to rule out more layoffs
Zuckerberg told employees that company’s planned layoffs are tied to massive AI infrastructure spending
Meta Platforms Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has blamed the company’s upcoming layoffs on ballooning artificial intelligence (AI) spending, telling employees that Meta must shrink its workforce as it pours more money into data centers, chips and AI computing infrastructure.
Speaking during a company-wide town hall on Thursday, Zuckerberg said Meta now faces a basic capital trade-off between its two biggest expenses: “compute infrastructure” and “people-oriented things.”
He said increased spending in one area leaves less room for the other, adding that the company therefore needs to “take down the size of the company somewhat.”
Meta is set to cut roughly 10% of its global workforce — about 8,000 employees — beginning May 20, with additional rounds of layoffs planned for later this year, according to earlier Reuters reporting.
The company recently raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to between $125 billion and $145 billion as it accelerates its AI push.
Although Zuckerberg insisted the cuts are not directly linked to Meta’s internal “AI native” reorganisation or autonomous AI worker projects, he declined to rule out more reductions, admitting he does not have a “crystal ball” on how the next few years will unfold.
The comments have intensified anger inside Meta, where employees have criticized leadership over repeated restructuring, limited transparency and the growing sense that workers are paying the price for the company’s aggressive AI gamble.
